Written Stories:
"You don’t get to celebrate the magic of your birthday for very long. And when you’re in your really early teens that’s the sweet spot. All your friends over, family, cards keep coming, and of course toys. Another thing about those early birthdays is usually they blur together and you forget them, but I have one I won’t forget. On September 11, 2001, I turned exactly 11.
I remember we had just finished my religious studies class. When the principal came in and told us to turn on the tv.
We didn’t have much time to realize exactly what was going before we watched live as the second plane hit.
Looking back I hate that I did it but I remember being the only one talking and cracking jokes and being told to stay quiet.
This is one of the moments that changed me. As I became the funny guy. Uneasy situations now cause me to crack wise to ease tension.
I remember when I returned home, my mom was unsure if I heard the news. She asked if school went well and if I wanted to open my gifts. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t excited about ripping open gifts. And I just went upstairs and just sat.
Since then birthdays feel very hollow to me and I don’t celebrate one unless a friend or girlfriend does it as a surprise.
In 2002 my parents took me to NYC to see Ground Zero. There were these construction walls surrounding it that to my 12 year old self seemed to go on for miles.And they all had messages.
My father told me to leave one, and to mention my birthday. So I did just that.
“my birthday is 9/11” Jesse Kale.
And the day before we left to return to North Carolina my message was still there with a heart around it."
- Jesse Kale
"I was in 4th grade. Teachers didn’t tell us about the attack but let us know an event at the local skate rink hat evening was cancelled. A rumor started that someone got stabbed at the skate rink and that’s why the event got cancelled. I found out about the attacks when I got home from school."
- Reddit user /u/bourbon76
"I was in middle school and they told the teachers to turn off the TV as it was too graphic. Such an important part of our history, schools should not keep us from experiencing those things no matter the grade. The teachers werent too happy about having to comply but they did."
- Reddit user /u/DLMckenzie2004
"I was in detention doing bear crawls and the teacher turned it off because we were paying attention to the TV instead of doing our punishment. Rural NC because of course"
- Redditor user /u/GRANITO
I remember we had just finished my religious studies class. When the principal came in and told us to turn on the tv.
We didn’t have much time to realize exactly what was going before we watched live as the second plane hit.
Looking back I hate that I did it but I remember being the only one talking and cracking jokes and being told to stay quiet.
This is one of the moments that changed me. As I became the funny guy. Uneasy situations now cause me to crack wise to ease tension.
I remember when I returned home, my mom was unsure if I heard the news. She asked if school went well and if I wanted to open my gifts. And for the first time in my life, I wasn’t excited about ripping open gifts. And I just went upstairs and just sat.
Since then birthdays feel very hollow to me and I don’t celebrate one unless a friend or girlfriend does it as a surprise.
In 2002 my parents took me to NYC to see Ground Zero. There were these construction walls surrounding it that to my 12 year old self seemed to go on for miles.And they all had messages.
My father told me to leave one, and to mention my birthday. So I did just that.
“my birthday is 9/11” Jesse Kale.
And the day before we left to return to North Carolina my message was still there with a heart around it."
- Jesse Kale
"I was in 4th grade. Teachers didn’t tell us about the attack but let us know an event at the local skate rink hat evening was cancelled. A rumor started that someone got stabbed at the skate rink and that’s why the event got cancelled. I found out about the attacks when I got home from school."
- Reddit user /u/bourbon76
"I was in middle school and they told the teachers to turn off the TV as it was too graphic. Such an important part of our history, schools should not keep us from experiencing those things no matter the grade. The teachers werent too happy about having to comply but they did."
- Reddit user /u/DLMckenzie2004
"I was in detention doing bear crawls and the teacher turned it off because we were paying attention to the TV instead of doing our punishment. Rural NC because of course"
- Redditor user /u/GRANITO